Recycling Program Aids Nonprofits

November 1, 2002|By Sar Perlman Special Correspondent

A county recycling program has salvaged 146 tons of used office furniture and equipment that was headed for the landfill and donated it to nonprofit organizations since its inception more than a year ago.

"This program really helps us out," said Wayne Barton, the former Boca Raton officer and community activist whose $2.3 million Wayne Barton Study Center opened in Boca Raton in January.

Barton received file cabinets, lighting, computer parts and desks so children in the after-school program can sit and do their homework.

"It also shows the kids not everything you get has to be brand new to be useful and put a smile on someone's face," he said. "There's a huge need for what they're doing. It should have been done years ago."

"We got filing cabinets, craft supplies, office equipment -- it saved us at least $2,000 last year," said Pam O'Brien, executive director of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse Inc. of Delray Beach. "It is particularly useful in our line of work. We have very few people come through our offices, and we don't mind used equipment."

Robert Dwelle, executive director of Boynton Beach Faith-Based Community Development Corp., said his organization received several office chairs and computer monitors, which he estimated are worth $200 each, in late August.

"It's a great service to nonprofits. It saved us some good money, and the monitors are good and they work fine."

The Business Equipment Reuse Program, an initiative of the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, was implemented because of consumer and community need, according to Susan Chapman, program's manager.

The concept originated when IBM sold its Blue Lake facility in Boca Raton in 1997.

"The buyer's plan was to gut the building out and build to suit. The furniture and equipment that came with the building was going to the dump," she said.

The author staff went in before demolition began and recovered desks, chairs, light fixtures and other items, which were redistributed to nonprofit organizations.

In June of last year, the authority received a two-year $199,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to turn such recovery projects into a full-scale program. SWA matched the grant by budgeting $350,000 of in-kind funding for the two-year period as well.

The program solicits the used furniture through direct mailings to local businesses and through news print advertisements. Salvaged items are stored in a warehouse at an authority facility on Lantana and Lyons roads. A release day is held every two weeks, when staff of nonprofit groups can bring a truck and "shop for free," Chapman said.

A nonprofit must present its 501(c)3 certificate from the IRS and fill out a form to be eligible.

"All of this furniture was going to the landfill. We estimate there are thousands of nonprofits in our county, and many of them could use it," Chapman said. "In addition to helping the nonprofits, we are also reducing the amount of trash going to the landfill and the need to add new landfills."

Landfill construction can cost as much as $360,000 an acre.

Businesses that have furniture or equipment to donate can contact the program and ask for a pickup. Program staff will come to inspect the donation, take volume-based and weight-based measurements, and schedule the collection. Pickup is available only within the county.

"There is no limit on quantity, number of items or what kind of items can be donated as long as they are still usable. A three-legged desk doesn't do anybody any good," Chapman said.